Remember the movie Ghost from the early 90’s? It starred Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze, who was shot and killed in an untimely manner and then went to great lengths to make Demi aware of his continued existence — albeit in the spiritual realm rather than the physical one.

If you remember the movie you will recall the heinous, dark, tramp spirit of a street bum who inhabited a subway train. He had no idea he was dead so existed in an indefinite and miserable state of limbo, terrorizing whomever he could. You can see a great clip of him HERE.

There are many souls who become “trapped” like this — either because they left their bodies very suddenly, as in a horrible traumatic accident, or are simply too attached to their physical body to let go. Supposedly these are the spirits who manifest as troublesome ghosts, poltergeists, and other haunting energies. They are lost souls and are usually quite unhappy and unfulfilled so tend to wreak havoc on the people and places they inhabit. They either don’t know they are dead so continue acting as if they had a body (like the bear ghost in this cartoon), or they are so angry at having died they have no desire to move on and so stay around and stir things up.

It is a sad situation either way, and, although there is apparently no time limit on reaching nirvana or saving one’s own soul, this limbo-land certainly seems like a tormented state in which one’s consciousness should exist. I’m not sure, but I suppose this would be akin to purgatory in Catholicism.

This state can happen to animals too, and for the same reasons. In tuning into the departed spirits of animals on behalf of their beloved humans, usually simply to make sure they have made the journey to the other side successfully, I have found many who were disoriented, did not realize where they were, and did not know they had left their bodies.

There is much that can be done to help these spirits, be they animal or human — largely through invoking help from the angelic or spiritual realm (or whatever your particular belief system would like to call benevolent spirits who exist outside our usual worldy paradigm — guardian angels to the rescue).

In a case I had just this week I was asked to check in on a horse who had been hit by a car and subsequently had to be put down due to shattered bones and major injuries. It all happened very fast, and was of course horribly traumatic for all concerned.

I found the horse drifting about ten feet off the ground, over the stalls of the other horses he had lived with, trying to interact with them and not understanding at all why they didn’t acknowledge him or act normally toward him. One young 2-year-old colt knew he was there but was equally confused due to the strange new aspect of his barn buddy of just a few days before.

Gentle communication is helpful here, introducing the spirit slowly to the idea that he is now in a new realm. Reassurance is key, and letting him know that his people and other friends know he is present, even if not physically, is crucial. Otherwise he feels abandoned and ignored. Talking to a spirit in this condition consistently over a period of time, while showing him the spirit world, the light, the helpers who await him, will usually calm his soul and help him make the transition to the other side within a few days to a few weeks.

This is what transpired in the current case, and I feel sure this horse will adjust to his new reality soon. Fortunately, his person is herself a gifted communicator so will continue to talk to him daily and reinforce all the new information we have given him. He is lucky to be so loved and well understood, and we are all sending blessings and prayers for his safe passage.